Palace unfazed by anti-graft court’s refusal to order Gloria Arroyo arrest

Malacañang is not bothered by the government’s latest legal setback when the Sandiganbayan on Friday junked prosecutors’ bid to order the arrest of its former tenant, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, for plunder. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte on Saturday said: “From our point of view these are procedural matters the Sandiganbayan ordered the Office of the Ombudsman to comply with.” The anti-graft court merely wanted a complete process of preliminary investigation as prayed for by Arroyo’s camp, and that the move does not mean the government has filed a weak case against Gloria  Arroyo, she stressed in an iterview on government-run dzRB radio. Besides, she said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is not the type who would bring a case to the graft court if she did not believe there was probable cause. “Si Ombudsman Morales, hindi yan basta-basta magsasampa ng kaso...," she said. The anti-graft court denied prosecutors’ move for an arrest order against Arroyo for a plunder case stemming from supposed irregularities in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Arroyo’s lawyers had argued the Sandiganbayan should suspend the proceedings of the case, citing the former leader’s right to due process. Last Wednesday, Arroyo was released after the Pasay City court allowed her to post a P1-million bail in her electoral sabotage case. Arroyo left the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City Wednesday, and on Thursday went to an alternative healing facility in Tagaytay City. On Friday, she visited the graves of her parents at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani in Taguig City before proceeding to the VMMC for therapy, and then to her home province Pampanga. — LBG, GMA News